iRobot’s latest Roomba uses AI to prevent dog bites
Using a robot vacuum is always a little dangerous for pet owners. Leaving the RoboVac to do its work in your absence can be a problem if you have more or less a well-trained dog or cat doing its work while you are out. A quick Google of “Rumba Dog Poop” gives you a little idea of what the consequences might be, as barrels with spinning brushes penetrate the mess and spread it freely around the house.
But now, rumba-maker iRobot says it has fixed a scatological problem. The company’s latest RoboVac, Rumba J7 +, uses built-in machine Vision and AI to identify and prevent all kinds of pet confusion. “It’s a big deal for us,” Colin Angle, founder and CEO of iRobot, told The Verge. “We’ve been working on this for a long time and we guarantee it works.”
This last point is especially important. Competitive RoboVacs like the RoboRock S6 MaxV and 360 Smart Life Robot Vacuum advertise the same mess-avoiding capabilities, but Kon doubts they are completely reliable. He says iRobot has been working on this issue for years, even building a large database of fake pet messes to train their AI vision systems.
“Robotics is supposed to be glamorous, but I don’t know how many play-doh models we made of pussies,” says Angle. “Lots, lots of thousands.” However, the result is unwavering confidence in the company’s poop-recognizing capabilities. “Our competition is starting to claim that they do it too, but it’s the same [they do] in CES with the right light,” he says. “We really felt the need to put a line in the sand and say, this is real, this is not a gimmick. If you have a pet, we will not disappoint you here. ”
Avoiding dog clutter is a key feature of Irobot’s latest robot vacuum cleaner, which gives some clues about the problems and progress of this machine. They’ve certainly become more efficient and useful over the years, but there are some basic tooth decay problems when hit on a rubber carpet.
Improvements to Irobot’s general software provide new cleaning methods and features
iRobot hopes to fix some of this with an update to its navigation and control software, known as iRobot Genius. It was initially launched in August last year for compatible roombus and it uses built-in machine vision to identify furniture and specific “clean zones” as well as allow for more hygiene notifications for users ’home maps.
Version 3.0 of the iRobot Genius, which launches today as a free upgrade, adds many new features. This includes a “quiet drive” mode that prevents the robot from making noise while going to work and making noises; Estimation of cleaning time for specific rooms; Improved mapping capability with suggested room names based on the robot’s ability to identify furniture objects; And a new “clean while I’m away” function. This means that if people like it, they can give iRobot access to their phone’s location and start cleaning sessions when they leave home.
The biggest update, however, is just for the new Roomba j7 + which not only confuses dogs using the new camera but also identifies other dangerous obstacles like socks, shoes and headphones. Again, this is done using Onboard Machine Vision, but it requires some action from the owner. If Rumba finds an unexpected interruption, it will ask through the connected app whether it is temporary or permanent. If it is permanent (like hanging TV cables), the machine will automatically create a clean area for it.
As Angle explains, it’s all about making iRobot’s products feel like a “partner” rather than a tool – a reliable service that owners can expect. “The idea is, we know what time it is, we know where we are in the house and we have an idea of the floor plan of the room.” “We must begin to apply respectful rules to our technology and hold our technology to the same kind of responsibility that we place in each other’s homes.”
Also the company wants to differentiate itself from cheap competitors. The new Roomba j7 + is priced at 49 494 which has a base station with days0 days worth of dirt, which is many times higher than the price of the basic RoboVac. Angle says Irobot’s free software upgrades, now and in the future, should help motivate customers to make their choices.
In addition to the features listed above, the new Roomba j7 + has a new high-end design, a simplified control system (three buttons instead of one), Bluetooth LE capability to facilitate onboarding, and a new bevel rim that is expected to stop. From getting stuck under the machine cabinet and refrigerator. The Roomba j7 + is available for sale today on iRobot’s website in the US and Canada, and will be available for purchase at select retailers from September 19th. It was also purchased for शिवाय 649 without the cleaning base station
